Apr 1 (TM) This Easter, ITC Ratnadipa invites guests to celebrate the season with a special brunch at the Indian Ocean Pavilion on 5 April, from 12.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. The Easter brunch offers a festive and relaxing afternoon complemented by a range of interactive and playful activities for children and a stunning view of the Indian Ocean, priced at Rs. 9,500 Nett per person with kids dining at half rate. The brunch features live cuisine theatres, allowing families to enjoy an international buffet more..

Apr 1 (FT) Sri Lanka’s current account surplus declined 68% year-on-year (YoY) to $ 117.2 million in February, which was also down 68% from January, with import growth outpacing exports. The current account surplus was up 3.8% YoY to $ 486.9 million for the first two months of the year. The deteriorating external sector performance in February is a concern, with the Middle East war broke out on 28 Feb. more..

Apr 1 (DM) In 416 BC, Athenian historian Thucydides enacted a dramatic negotiation between Athenian invaders and the leaders of the neutral small state of Melos. The interaction, dramatised as the Melian dialogue in his treatise, The History of the Peloponnesian War, is one of the best-remembered anecdotes of the brutal reality of the international system, and a starting point for any student of international politics. During the siege of Melos, when the Athenians demanded more..

Apr 1 (ST) It might seem strange that the Trump-inspired Iran war—which poured military power into the Indian Ocean, blowing up innocent Iranians from their unarmed ship—reminds me so much about the gangsterism that haunts SL today. SL gangster warlords enjoy a good life and live in luxury mainly in Dubai and other Middle Eastern desert cities, ordering their local gunmen to eliminate their enemies in Sri Lanka. Like the desert rats of the past, a presidential Al Capone who more..

Apr 1 (Island) JVP-NPP govt continues to signal left and turn right. Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake often does the diametrical opposite of what he promised to do while he was an Opposition MP, so much so that his political opponents mockingly ask whether former JVP MP Dissanayake has disappeared and the incumbent President is a doppelganger. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam tongue in cheek lamented, at a media briefing on Monday, that more..

Apr 1 (TM) The month of April is traditionally heralded by the persistent, rhythmic call of the Koha bird and the vibrant crimson of the Erabadu flowers. As the sun enters Aries, marking the Aluth Avurudu, it is a time for renewal, for the settling of old scores, and for the gathering of kin. Yet, as we approach the dawn of Avurudu in 2026, the festive atmosphere feels strangely stifled. The Koha still sings, but the families listening are preoccupied with a much harsher melody: more..

Apr 1 (SO) In a landmark judgment that cuts to the core of governance in Sri Lanka’s health sector, the Supreme Court has delivered a powerful rebuke to the arbitrary exercise of public power, ruling that a controversial pharmaceutical procurement process violated the fundamental rights of citizens. The decision, delivered on March 27, 2026, in SC/FR 65/2023, is more than a legal verdict. It is a stark indictment of how more..

Apr 1 (GV) As some the scars inflicted by the decades long civil war slowly begin to heal in the Northern Province, two communities – Muslims returnees and Malaiyaha Tamils – are facing many challenges fitting in. For both groups, the major concern is land; they also lack proper housing, infrastructure facilities and livelihood opportunities, and face ongoing discrimination and maginalisation. In Oct 1990 some 75,000 to 100,000 Muslims in the Northern Province, about 5% of province’s more..

Apr 1 (CT) On a busy street in Colombo, the signs of a distant war rarely announce themselves directly. There are no sirens, no air raids, no missile trails overhead. But the effects arrive anyway, often invisibly at first, then all at once: a rise in fuel costs, a jump in transport fares, dearer food, tighter household budgets and that familiar, sinking feeling that another external shock is about to squeeze a country already stretched thin. That is how wars work for small economies like SL. more..

Apr 1 (SO) For thousands of families across SL, the pain of enforced disappearance is not a chapter of the past but a continuing reality, stretching across decades of political violence and civil conflict since the 1970s. In the absence of consistent State-led truth-seeking, it is often individuals and civil society organisations that have carried the burden of demanding answers, keeping alive the voices of those who vanished more..

Apr 1 (Island) This Article is formed from listening to university students from across the country for two research initiatives, one on academic freedom and another on higher education policy. In speaking with students, the fears they carry could not be ignored. Students navigate university education, with anxieties about their future and fears that they and their university education are inadequate, all while managing their families’ daily struggles. I explore students’ anxieties and more..

Apr 1 (DM) Unlike so many other allegations leveled by the Opposition against the govt, the allegation of corruption by the CIABOC against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody was no doubt a slap in the face of the ruling NPP. The CIABOC which filed charges against him, has alleged that in 2016, while serving as the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertiliser Company, Jayakody committed an act of corruption, causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the state by influencing more..